Google’s New App Updates Reducing Consumers Privacy

Posted on April 4, 2014

The latest smartphone update released by Google sounds like it’s engineered to make your virtual life a lot simpler by logging you into all of your Google apps at once. What it actually does is track more of your personal data and allow for better targeting than ever before.

In the newest Gmail app update for Apple’s iOS 7 iPhone operating system, a change was built into the sign-in feature that automatically links your account to every other Google app on your phone. From now on, whether you want or not, signing into any app including Gmail, YouTube, Maps, Drive or Chrome signs you into all of them simultaneously and automatically.

“Sign in to one, and you’ll be signed in to all,” Google said in a short post on its Gmail blog. “So you won’t have to type in that 27-character password or retrieve your 2-step verification code every time you navigate to another Google app. You may need to re-login after you update the app, but then you’ll be all set.”

The sign-in link makes it drastically more convenient for Google to track and link all online data and activity to every individual user, and “fills [the] gap in Google’s knowledge” when smartphone users are signed into Gmail but shop on Chrome or watch a video on YouTube anonymously, for example.

Quartz reports that 86 percent of smartphone use time is spent on apps, and 14 percent in the phone’s Web browser.

Such knowledge allows Google to engage in more effective targeted advertising by correlating where and how it showed users ads, and if they influenced subsequent purchases — highly sought-after information for giant Silicon Valley advertisers, according to Quartz.

Google is still fighting legal battles across multiple countries in Europe over a similar change that occurred in 2012 when the company combined 60 privacy policy agreements (the legal agreement you scroll through and “accept” to use a new service) into one agreement for a range of services.

“The main change is for users with Google Accounts. Our new Privacy Policy makes clear that, if you’re signed in, we may combine information you’ve provided from one service with information from other services,” Google said while again hiding the change in language meant to sound like a benefit to users.

“In short, we’ll treat you as a single user across all our products, which will mean a simpler, more intuitive Google experience.”

France and Spain fined Google, and four other EU countries including Germany have launched ongoing investigations into Google’s data privacy breaches of European law.

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Of course it is all just a giant control mechanism ? Google pretty much dominates the internet and of course is part of the control mechanisms ! Nothing new but many people are still asleep thinking all is well ? It isn't.

This problem is inherent in using "apps" to use a specific Web site instead of reaching it through a Web browser; this just happens to be the most flagrant abuse of this "captive user channel" model. If my tablet or smartphone were my primary computer, I would delete all "apps" for Web sites and visit online services only through the Web browser.

Maybe you could just decide to stop using Google's free services and then you don't even need to log in once. No one makes you use Google. Just type in the name of the web site into the URL bar, like this: http://teapartyeconomist.com/

Just like magic, there is the site you are looking for! And no Google required.

Advertisers are the ones who are paying Google to shove stuff in your face. If you don't like the ads, maybe you should complain to the advertisers. Tell them "I want to use the free services that you are paying for but I don't want to watch your ads". See how well that works.

We should be careful, it's not private at all if everyone in the world knows your information. Though it'a beneficial to users signing them in automatically but then others can get private information from their accounts. If your interested, check ClickMinded – Internet Marketing Training for more SEO info.